John McDonald

Recollections of returning home one night during an air raid.

When the East End dock areas were under nightly bombing John arrived home on a 48 hour pass from the Army. When he reached Kings Cross Station it was on fire and so he had a long walk home to Plaistow. When he eventually reached home at around 02:00 he could not get in and so climbed the corner shop gateway and proceeded to make his way across garden fences until he reached his house. However, when he got in he found the air raid shelter and house empty – with his mother and two sisters nowhere to be seen. John then crossed the road and carried out the same procedure until he found his Uncle Matt keeping himself company at home with a bottle of whisky. Matt finally told him that the bombing had been so heavy that he had rounded up all the women and children the day before and taken them to a village in Hertfordshire. Here they remained safe for over two years only returning home when the air raids ceased.

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